Phet is a website that provides many different simulators that can be used in Math or Science. This site belongs to the University of Colorado at Boulder. The interactive simulators are written in Java and will run directly from the Phet website, can be embedded directly in another website, or are available as downloadable applets that will work offline. In addition, this site provides teachers with resources such as peer written lessons that go along with the simulators. Teachers can find lessons by selecting which simulator they want to use, select the type of assignment, the grade level, and language. This will then generate a list of teacher submitted lessons to choose from. The simulators are available for Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science, Biology, and Math. The simulators can also be sorted by grade level such as Elementary School, Middle School, High School or University.
There is presently no cost to use this website. The site relies on contributions from its users, both monetary and intellectual. Teachers can create lessons and submit their creations of others to use.
The simulators we are using in our project are Forces of Motion Basics, Forces of Motion, and Buoyancy. In the Motion simulators students can control several variables including mass, force vectors, friction, gravity and create force graphs. The buoyancy simulator allows students to do comparisons of objects based on their volume, mass, material of the mass and material to float in.
Benefits of Tool or App
There are several benefits to the Phet simulations. They provide a way to do experiments in a quick and easy way. Aside from a computing device, there are no materials to get out and set up, variables are easy to control, and the simulators are easy to use. This gives a teacher the ability to illustrate complex and abstract concepts fairly easily. Students can conduct investigations that they normally could not, such as having lunar gravity or no friction. Also students have extreme control over variables such as wind speed and resistance. Many times physics experiments are premised with "neglecting wind resistance" these simulators allow students to see the effect of launching an object into the wind with measurable results.
The two major benefits I see from this program is its cost and versatility. The use of this site is completely free. You can donate if you would like to but there is no obligation to you. The second is versatility, in the sense of being able to run the simulators directly from the website, or to embed them in a wiki, a website, edmodo, or the LMS of your choice, or if you want to work offline they can be downloaded and installed as independent applications on your computer.
Constraints of Tool or App
The constraints of the app comes in the user interface with some of the simulators. Many of the simulators work using sliders to control variables in the experiments. This can be difficult to use sometimes and you cannot key in the values directly. Also the calculation are limited to a specific range of values. For example in the resistance in a wire simulation you are limited to about 20 cm for the maximum length of wire. If you wanted a student to calculate the resistance in a 2 meter long piece of wire they will have to do calculations manually. In this case the calculation is easy considering the resistance is proportional to its length.
Choose the topic you want to explore.
Choose which way you would like to launch the simulation. Choose either Download, Embed or Run Now!
Using the simulator
Original Artifact of Tool or App (created by John Scarfpin)
Student Uses
Students can use the simulations from this site to conduct investigations in just about any area of science they are interested in. The eighth grade studies plate tectonics in science, there is a simulation that shows the different fault types and how they interact. A student in math could use a simulation to understand parabolic equations using the equation graphing simulation. If a student is interested in biology they can try and stretch DNA using optical tweezers in the Stretching DNA simulation. There are so many different simulations here the possibilities are endless.
Teacher Uses
A teacher can use the simulations to build content around. We are using the simulations to enhance our students understanding of what is happening as they are studying Physics in Science right now. This allows students to see the concepts in the textbook in motion rather than studying a still picture. When a teacher is done creating a lesson around one of the simulations they can share it with others. By sharing and communicating with others that use your lesson the teacher is able to create a better lesson for future classes. In addition, you can gather lessons from other teachers that inspire new endeavors.
Description of Tool or App
Phet is a website that provides many different simulators that can be used in Math or Science. This site belongs to the University of Colorado at Boulder. The interactive simulators are written in Java and will run directly from the Phet website, can be embedded directly in another website, or are available as downloadable applets that will work offline. In addition, this site provides teachers with resources such as peer written lessons that go along with the simulators. Teachers can find lessons by selecting which simulator they want to use, select the type of assignment, the grade level, and language. This will then generate a list of teacher submitted lessons to choose from. The simulators are available for Physics, Chemistry, Earth Science, Biology, and Math. The simulators can also be sorted by grade level such as Elementary School, Middle School, High School or University.
There is presently no cost to use this website. The site relies on contributions from its users, both monetary and intellectual. Teachers can create lessons and submit their creations of others to use.
The simulators we are using in our project are Forces of Motion Basics, Forces of Motion, and Buoyancy. In the Motion simulators students can control several variables including mass, force vectors, friction, gravity and create force graphs. The buoyancy simulator allows students to do comparisons of objects based on their volume, mass, material of the mass and material to float in.
Benefits of Tool or App
There are several benefits to the Phet simulations. They provide a way to do experiments in a quick and easy way. Aside from a computing device, there are no materials to get out and set up, variables are easy to control, and the simulators are easy to use. This gives a teacher the ability to illustrate complex and abstract concepts fairly easily. Students can conduct investigations that they normally could not, such as having lunar gravity or no friction. Also students have extreme control over variables such as wind speed and resistance. Many times physics experiments are premised with "neglecting wind resistance" these simulators allow students to see the effect of launching an object into the wind with measurable results.
The two major benefits I see from this program is its cost and versatility. The use of this site is completely free. You can donate if you would like to but there is no obligation to you. The second is versatility, in the sense of being able to run the simulators directly from the website, or to embed them in a wiki, a website, edmodo, or the LMS of your choice, or if you want to work offline they can be downloaded and installed as independent applications on your computer.
Constraints of Tool or App
The constraints of the app comes in the user interface with some of the simulators. Many of the simulators work using sliders to control variables in the experiments. This can be difficult to use sometimes and you cannot key in the values directly. Also the calculation are limited to a specific range of values. For example in the resistance in a wire simulation you are limited to about 20 cm for the maximum length of wire. If you wanted a student to calculate the resistance in a 2 meter long piece of wire they will have to do calculations manually. In this case the calculation is easy considering the resistance is proportional to its length.
How To Use Tool or App
Go to http://phet.colorado.eduClick on Play with Sims in the middle of the page
Choose the topic you want to explore.
Choose which way you would like to launch the simulation. Choose either Download, Embed or Run Now!
Using the simulator
Original Artifact of Tool or App (created by John Scarfpin)
Classroom Uses for Tool or App
Student Uses
Students can use the simulations from this site to conduct investigations in just about any area of science they are interested in. The eighth grade studies plate tectonics in science, there is a simulation that shows the different fault types and how they interact. A student in math could use a simulation to understand parabolic equations using the equation graphing simulation. If a student is interested in biology they can try and stretch DNA using optical tweezers in the Stretching DNA simulation. There are so many different simulations here the possibilities are endless.
Teacher Uses
A teacher can use the simulations to build content around. We are using the simulations to enhance our students understanding of what is happening as they are studying Physics in Science right now. This allows students to see the concepts in the textbook in motion rather than studying a still picture. When a teacher is done creating a lesson around one of the simulations they can share it with others. By sharing and communicating with others that use your lesson the teacher is able to create a better lesson for future classes. In addition, you can gather lessons from other teachers that inspire new endeavors.